VR Porn and Cinema

Image credit: Mental Floss

In the midst of reviewing some of the most exciting and jaw-dropping releases from the world of virtual reality porn, I decided to take a short break and lay down some of the thoughts and ideas I’ve had for a while. The assumption from which this article begins is that VR in itself can change the way we consume each and every type of media, and since its porn section is by far the most diverse and consistent in terms of content, it probably won’t be long until we get Hollywood blockbusters with all-star casts in which you are the protagonist! 

And just to make it clear, I’m not talking about Netflix’s approach to VR, in which you get to sit in an empty movie theater and watch the content on a larger screen which looks like the IMAX experience. When I say VR films and VR cinema, I’m actually referring to full-feature life-action Hollywood productions that are shot with a VR camera and are meant to turn you into the protagonist.

Just imagine you were the guy who said, “we’ll always have Paris” to generate the bittersweet ending that leads to the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Image credit: Turner Classic Movies

Sure, the idea has certain technical limitations that we can imagine, and the possibilities aren’t quite as limitless as we would like – the final product, even if it involves a decision-making process similar to the contemporary VR video games, has to feature some kind of linearity to be able to fulfill its purpose (you know, the happy ending in which you save the world). But the product I’m thinking about is a cinematic cross-over between a completely-acted film and a video game in which you explore the world and make decisions. The graphics have to be as realistic as the real world and avoid computer-generated content as much as possible by replacing it with real recorded footage, and the amount of interaction with the environment should retain a certain degree of realism.

I know this sounds a lot like Sci-Fi stuff, but so does today’s VR for quite some time. I like to think that VR porn is only an experimental state of development which explores the capabilities of the technology in terms of filming human actors – and the next step is going to blow our minds and revolutionize the more PG mass-entertainment industry!

Maybe that there’s a reason why we don’t really have something truly middle-ground to bridge the computer-generated content with the real-life films. There are video conferences and other ways of interacting in real time, but so far, I can’t think of any VR application which uses recorded images of real people to fulfill a certain purpose. I like to think that somebody who always thinks about the next big technological advancement (maybe a director like James Cameron, whose blockbuster “Avatar” has made 3D cool and desirable for years) is working right now on a VR project that will absolutely blow our minds. Maybe that Netflix’s VR theater app is just a short experiment and can start a huge movement in which movie directors become interested in filming their future masterpieces in full VR.

Making them an offer they can’t refuse can potentially be the next big VR app! Image credit: AV Club

Because really, who doesn’t want to be the protagonist of a Hollywood film? Even if the level of interaction with the other actors is limited and there really aren’t many choices that you can make (which means that it’s a pre-determined illusion which immerses you and makes you identify with the character, but your decisions won’t change the turn of events), we can still have something truly great, groundbreaking, and memorable.

And this is where virtual reality porn becomes very important: the Hollywood movie directors who want to shoot VR masterpieces will have to turn to the porn directors and studios, ask them for advice and learn from them about how the technology is best used.

Think about it this way: if cinema spearheaded the development of porn in the 20th century and its popularization in the early days is due to certain theaters which screened triple-X productions, now it will be the other way around. From a technological and cinematic point of view, virtual reality porn is lightyears ahead anything that was released for entertainment purposes to the masses and isn’t computer-generated: if you have to film any kind of project which involves real human beings and wants to know more about how the distances between subjects should be determined, then the VR porn directors and technicians are the go-to persons.

If 2D porn directors have borrowed cliches, camera angles, lighting technology and settings, filming techniques, and editing procedures from the regular movie directors (and took it to the point where lots of porn productions were sexualized parodies of existing shows or movies), then Hollywood directors who want to use VR technology in their masterpieces will have to learn from today’s VR porn.

The epic battles from the Wild West will look absolutely mesmerizing in VR. And the porn sub-branch totally lays the foundations of future cinematic productions using the technology. Image credit: The Movie District

As a reviewer of threesome and orgy releases from the genre, I can say that new advancements are brought every month: the studios are very competitive and are trying to add something unique to their productions, just to differentiate from the others. If we look at VR porn films from the summer of 2016 and compare them to the ones we can watch right now, we can clearly observe an improvement of quality: first of all, the distances are better calculated and the directors must show the girls just how close they can get to the camera to look their best; secondly, the number of possible sexual positions that the protagonist can use has doubled, a fact that is clearly interconnected with the mobility of the future leading actors; thirdly, the image quality has gotten a lot better, and the 360-degree 4K videos really give us a sneak peek what the future of cinema look like.

VR porn studios are true pioneers of the technology and they are bold enough to carry this burden of exploring the capabilities of virtual reality until some high-profile company decides that releasing films for the mass audience in VR is really a great idea!

And if you ask me, the time is just right for a revolution in cinema. We’re stuck with so many rehashes, remakes and script re-imaginings, that originality seems to fade by the year. While it’s true that all the great stories of the world have already been told in ancient times and cinema’s history of 120+ years has already encompassed most of them, this time it isn’t just about the plot (and I’m sorry for making the likes of Alfred Hitchcock turn in their graves for this comment). Filming in VR is original in itself and movie directors, as well as big entertainment studios, should quit playing it safe and invest in the next big hit.

I’ve really enjoyed the VR porn imagining of The Hobbit, but having the real thing would completely revolutionize the entertainment industry. Image credit: VirtualRealityBang

Even if you want to remake Mad Max for the 3rd time and once again adapt it to the contemporary liberal agenda by inserting a strong female character, doing it in virtual reality and allowing yourself to interactively witness the view of certain movie characters would be truly revolutionary. If you could influence the events with the way you utilize the motion controls, it would be even greater. If you were to choose between certain pre-determined lines of dialogue and influence the outcome of the events, it would be absolutely sweet!

But I’m telling you, cinema in VR is yet to be developed to a grand scale. Projects like The VR Cinema, which put together VR experiences and gather people around for various experiences, should get all the praise and are meritorious. But the concept I’m proposing here is a lot more elaborate and has the potential to radically change the way we consume media and enjoy entertainment programs.

I’m pretty sure that Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” looked absolutely impressive back in 1927, during the silent film era. Similarly, Star Wars blew our minds 50 years later with its mix of organic and digital special effects. In 2009, Avatar has introduced a fascinating blend of real live-action footage and 3D computer-generated effects whose depths could be seen with special glasses. Now it’s time for VR to step up and become the next medium for mass entertainment consumption.

Star Wars has already had its VR parody released, but we can still hope that this rather pioneering attempt leads the way to a real full-VR release of the saga. Image credit: VirtualRealPorn

And I really hope that some film director or Hollywood exec is reading this and considers the advantages of pioneering truly mind-blowing productions. Sure, the technology hasn’t really taken off on the consumer market and people still need time before embracing such advanced devices like the Oculus and the Vive (a price drop would be really nice too!).

But the first big studio and major director to release some kind of interactive POV experience in VR in which you are the leading actor and you interact with a responsive environment will make history (and probably collect a pretty nice amount of money for pioneering a genre and creating the new hit). And if you need advice on how to produce such films that certainly aren’t void of grandeur and glory, you should look no further than the VR porn directors, whilst the A-list movie stars who will play the major roles will have to take lessons from the pornstars.